FDA received two death reports involving bootleg retatrutide products, CBS News reports
Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show the FDA received two adverse event reports describing fatal cardiac arrests after use of products claiming to be retatrutide, an unapproved investigational drug. The reports are unverified and do not establish that the products caused the deaths.
The Food and Drug Administration received reports in recent months that two people died after taking bootleg versions of retatrutide, an experimental weight-loss drug being developed by Eli Lilly that has not been approved by the FDA, according to documents reviewed by CBS News and reported October 13, 2026. The documents were obtained under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and redacted by the agency. The cases appear to be the first public accounts in the United States alleging that unauthorized use of retatrutide - or products claiming to contain it - played a role in a patient's death, though the details are not verified and it is unclear whether the drug was to blame.
The first report was filed in July by a healthcare professional and lists retatrutide as a 'suspect product.' It describes a 41-year-old woman with obesity, obtained 'from an unreliable source,' who was taken to a hospital with a dangerously fast heartbeat and died after multiple resuscitation attempts failed. The report said she appeared to be an otherwise healthy adult and noted she was drinking kava at the time of the emergency.
The second report, received in September, describes a 49-year-old patient who died after a licensed nurse 'convinced' her to buy retatrutide from an online peptide vendor and she experienced severe dehydration, malnutrition and cardiac arrest. That report named a source: an image shows a vial labeled 'AlphaLabs' and a website offering peptides 'for research use only.' A company owner, Joseph Samara, applied for a trademark for the name Alpha Labs earlier this year.
The reports were submitted to the FDA's Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS), which is designed to monitor the safety of approved drugs; retatrutide is not approved, and the two reported deaths are not connected to a formal clinical trial, according to the documents and Eli Lilly. Reports alone do not prove a product caused or contributed to a death. The FDA declined to say whether it has verified either report, stating that it 'generally does not discuss potential or ongoing compliance matters.' CBS News said it could not independently verify the information in the reports.
America's Poison Centers, a nonprofit, logged 862 reported exposures to retatrutide in the three months ending in September, up from 460 in the prior three months and 249 in the first three months of 2026; the group notes a steady increase is common for a newly monitored drug. Pieter Cohen, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, told CBS the FDA should try to obtain and analyze the actual products involved and called a lack of aggressive investigation 'deeply concerning.'
Eli Lilly said in a statement that the reported deaths 'make clear the two individuals were taking black-market retatrutide,' and said it has found suspect products 'with too much, too little, or the wrong active ingredient,' along with contaminants that 'can put patients at serious risk.' The company said it is taking legal action against companies selling bootleg versions. Context and limits: this brief reports adverse-event submissions described in a news investigation dated October 13, 2026, reviewed and added October 19, 2026. The submissions are unverified allegations, not confirmed findings; the brief is not medical or legal advice and does not identify or recommend any seller, prescriber or product.